The next day, the Daily Prophet ran a scathing article about the scandal of Barty Crouch–adult wizard and Ministry employee–entering the student competition he was in charge of organizing.

The paper reminded its readers of Crouch's connection to the riot at the Quidditch World Cup, making this the second time he'd caused wizarding Britain international embarrassment in as many months. The Prophet also dredged up his personal history, with particular attention given to his treatment of his own son during the Death Eater trials.

Looking over the article at breakfast, Harry said, "That could be me getting picked apart, if I'd gotten picked as number four. I guess that's another one I owe you both."

Hermione said, "You can show your gratitude by working hard. That means both classwork and any extracurricular projects."

Ginny rolled her eyes at Hermione's attempt at subtle implication, but no one sitting nearby was paying attention to them.

The next two weeks passed without incident, until the day Snape set them to brewing antidotes in Double Potions.

Harry hated setting foot in the Potions classroom, even aside from it being Snape's domain. The room was always cold, especially this time of year, yet the icy drafts failed to provide much ventilation. The smell hit you so hard you could almost feel it on your skin as soon as you walked in the door, and only grew worse as everyone began preparing ingredients and dropping them in their boiling cauldrons. The acrid odors seeped into clothing, so Harry's escape at the end of each lesson never felt complete until he could get back to his dorm room to change. The accompanying sounds were no better, as a classroom full of students chopped, mashed, and otherwise abused the squishing, squelching potion components.

On this particular afternoon, the fumes were even more pungent than usual, and Harry soon felt a headache coming on. Snape–perhaps sensing weakness–spent the class hinting he intended to test the finished potions on Harry. Harry resolutely ignored him, until Snape told him to come forward at the end of class.

"What for… sir?" Harry asked.

"What's wrong, Potter? No faith in the brewing abilities of your classmates?"

"I don't expect anyone here to be perfect at it. Isn't that the whole reason we're taking the class? To learn?"

"Indeed, I often find myself questioning why most of you are here. But you don't honestly believe I would allow you to come to any harm? So much for Gryffindor bravery."

The Slytherins had a good laugh at this, but Harry clenched his fists and tried to follow his godfather's advice to avoid a confrontation.

Snape said, "Well, Potter? I expect an answer when I address you."

"Fine, if you insist. The truth is I'm not sure what to believe about you. I think I have good reasons to have doubts. After all, your master Voldemort killed my parents and tried to kill me. Sir."

The other students gasped at Harry's defiant answer and casual use of Voldemort's name.

Snape eyes went wide at Harry's response. "Get out."

"Gladly," Harry said, starting to pack up his supplies.

"Get out! Now!"

"It's alright, mate," Ron said. "I'll grab your stuff."

Harry nodded to Ron, and made his way out of the room, keeping an eye on Snape and a hand near his wand the whole time.

Once he reached the corridor, he hastened to get clear of the dungeons as fast as possible. He was almost back to Gryffindor Tower when an insect zipped past him, disappearing around the next corner.

As he rounded the corner himself, he nearly ran into an adult witch he didn't recognize. She wore her blonde hair in rigid curls, and wore jewel-studded glasses.

"Well, Harry Potter! What a fortunate coincidence to meet you here!"

"Yes, nice to meet you. If you'll excuse me–"

"Rita Skeeter, delighted to meet you as well." She held out her hand to him, while moving to block him from going around her.

Harry grimaced but reached for her offered hand, at which point she grabbed his, and began to pull him towards the nearest broom closet.

As she did, she told him, "I'm sure my readers would love to get your thoughts on all the excitement going on at Hogwarts this year."

"Listen, this isn't the best time–"

"Nonsense," she said, "You wouldn't want to disappoint all the people eager for an update on the Boy Who–Ah!" The reporter cut off with a yelp as she tripped, and had to let go of him to have both hands free to break her fall.

Harry's instinct was to help her up, but she'd already grabbed him once. His aunt and uncle liked to grab him and drag him to wherever they wanted him to carry out some chore. It wasn't something he cared for at all.

"Oh, dear," remarked Ginny, appearing next to Harry. She looked down at the reporter, making no effort to help her up. "You must have caught your shoe on the edge of an uneven stone. Are you alright?"

Skeeter scrambled to her feet. She glanced at the floor, then shot a suspicious scowl at Ginny. "Yes, thank you for your concern. I'm sure it must have been that, and not a Trip Jinx or some other childish trick."

Ginny gave her an innocent look in return.

Recovering, Skeeter said, "Harry and I were just about to have a little chat, so you'll have to excuse us."

"I'm sure you won't mind me joining you. I'd love to see how a real reporter conducts an interview. I'm thinking of becoming a journalist myself some day."

"How lovely. Here's your first lesson: the more people listening in, the less comfortable the interviewee will feel about opening up. I'm afraid this will have to be a private chat between me and Harry."

Ginny turned to look at the closet Skeeter had been dragging Harry towards. "In a broom closet?" she exclaimed in a voice which carried down the corridor. "Alone with an underage wizard? You must remember what everyone uses those closets for, even if it has been ages since you were a student. Surely you'd prefer to have a chaperon, to avoid the appearance of impropriety."

Skeeter glanced around uncomfortably at the passing students who were taking notice of the three of them. "Of course. How thoughtless of me," she agreed. "Come along then."

Once they were inside, Skeeter took out a piece of parchment and an acid-green quill and set them up on a convenient shelf. She started shooting questions at Harry about his childhood, as the quill began to scribble away under its own power.

While the reporter had her attention on Harry, Ginny leaned forward to see what the quill was writing. She frowned, and a small glob of fire in the shape of an insect materialized on the corner of the parchment and scuttled across it, burning a trail as it went. When the insect reached the quill, it began to climb, setting that aflame as well.

Skeeter turned in time to see the fiery insect consume the last of the quill, and wink out of existence.

"What was that?" she demanded, jumping to her feet.

"A beetle," Ginny answered. "To be specific, I thought you might recognize–"

"Stop! Don't say it! What do you want?"

Ginny blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Don't play games. What do you want in exchange for keeping quiet?"

Ginny regarded her for a long moment, then said, "No stories about Harry. And no stories criticizing the work Arthur Weasley does at the Ministry."

"Don't be absurd. I can work with the second part. Barty Crouch is the only Ministry story worth covering right now anyway. But Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived. I can't just pretend he doesn't exist."

Ginny considered. "Alright, but nothing gets printed before giving him a chance to review it and correct any factual errors first. And no made-up quotes."

Skeeter grimaced. "Fine."

"Good. You may go now."

Skeeter glared at her, but left without another word.

Ginny pulled the door closed and grinned at Harry. "If you wanted to get me alone in a broom closet, all you had to do was ask. You didn't have to put on this whole show of taking up with an older woman to try to make me jealous."

"Yeah, right. Thanks for the rescue. What do you have on her that she's so desperate to keep quiet?"

"No idea." She shrugged. "She made an offer, so I took it. Though she did ruin my joke," she added with a frown.

"What joke?"

"I was about to say she should recognize a dung beetle when she sees one, because they do nothing all day but push around a load of shite… which is just like her job. But she stepped on the punchline!"

"At least you got rid of her."

"I suppose."

"It would have been a good joke, but you don't have to sulk."

"I'm not."

"She said, sulkily."

"Shut up. Next time I'll let you face the press alone."

"Nah. You're always there when I need you. You can't help yourself."

"Too busy helping you."

"I know. Thank you. I mean it." He stepped forward to hug her.

"You're welcome," she murmured, as she returned the embrace.

Harry pulled back and looked at her. "I've had kind of a lousy day in general, until you showed up."

"What happened?"

"Nothing much. I accused Snape of trying to murder me. I may have said it in front of the whole class. How has your day been?"

She studied his face to see if he was kidding, then told him, "I think you need to tell me exactly what happened."

"We were working on antidotes. Snape kept saying he was going to test them on me at the end of class, then told me to come up to his desk. He asked if I trusted him, and I said I didn't know, because he followed Voldemort back in the day."

"Wow. I can't see Snape letting that go. You should call Sirius on the mirror right away."

"I hate to bother him."

"Harry. Sirius is never going to find fighting Snape on your behalf to be a bother."

"I guess. Snape hasn't been giving you a hard time, has he?"

"No worse than any other non-Slytherin. I wonder if we should get Skeeter to write something about Snape."

"Not much of a story."

"It could be, if you tell it the right way."

"Everyone who might read it would already have taken his class, and seen what he's like. Or they have kids who did. Snape being terrible isn't breaking news."

"Having the story be about you would bring more attention to it."

"I'm not looking for more attention." He groaned. "I wonder how many other reporters are planning to take advantage of the Tournament to corner me? And for what? The whole Boy Who Lived thing is old news by now, too. Or it should be."

"Alright, forget I mentioned it. But you are getting Sirius to help you. Come on." She opened the closet door and stepped out.

As they emerged, Angelina and Alicia happened to be passing by, and gave them curious looks.

"Whew! That was mind-blowing!" Ginny exclaimed. "Thanks, Harry!"

He looked puzzled for a moment, then blushed when his Quidditch teammates giggled as they continued down the corridor.

"Was that necessary?" he asked Ginny.

"If by 'necessary', you mean 'entertaining', then yes. Now come on. You have a mirror call to make."

They went up to his room, and Harry used his mirror to contact Sirius, while Ginny sat next to him and listened to make sure he didn't downplay the incident.

Sirius fumed, and promised to be there for the meeting to discuss the incident which Snape was sure to demand.

~*~

At dinner, Colin Creevey was gushing about getting to watch a real press photographer at work that afternoon at the Wand-Weighing ceremony for the four champions, which Ollivander had come to Hogwarts to preside over.

Hermione was frustrated that Neville had missed a chance to talk to the wand-maker about the importance of having a properly-matched wand, though Neville himself seemed less upset by this.

Harry said, "I'm just as happy to have missed him. He told me more than I wanted to know about my wand the first time."

Hermione perked up. "Oh? I've been reading up on wands. What did he say about yours?"

"Just a weird coincidence. It doesn't mean anything."

"Harry," Ginny said delicately, "I wouldn't be so sure. When it comes to magic, ignoring coincidences can be a bad idea."

"Alright, but I don't want to talk about it here. I'll tell you all later if you really want to know."

Hermione looked like she wanted to push for more, but let it go for the time being.

Towards the end of dinner, Professor McGonagall came over to tell Harry the headmaster would like to see him in his office after the meal.

"Will Sirius be there?" Harry asked.

McGonagall frowned at Harry's impertinence in questioning instructions from the headmaster, but told him she believed his godfather would be present.

When Harry entered Dumbledore's office, he found Dumbledore seated at his desk, with Sirius and Snape standing and glaring at each other from opposite ends of it. They all turned to Harry when he entered.

Sirius asked, "Are you okay? Do you need Pomfrey to check you for poisons?"

"Anything for more attention," Snape scoffed.

Harry said, "No, I'm fine. I got out of there before he made me drink anything. Thanks for coming though."

"The boy is lying," said Snape. "He was in no danger."

Dumbledore said, "Harry, I have heard Professor Snape's account, and now I would like to hear yours."

"Of course, sir. If Snape will let me tell it without interrupting."

"I'm sure Professor Snape wants to resolve this misunderstanding just as much as you do."

Harry had his doubts about this, but Sirius nodded for him to go ahead.

"We were working on antidotes," Harry began. "The whole class, Snape kept saying he planned to test them on me. When everyone was handing in their potions, he told me to come to the front of the class, so he could carry out his threat."

"I said no such thing!" Snape objected.

"Fine. He told me to come to the front of the class. I asked what he wanted me for. He said something about how most of us didn't belong there, then asked why I wouldn't want to drink a bunch of potions made by fourth-year students. And I assume poisons made by Snape, because how else are you going to test antidotes?"

"Preposterous!"

"I have plenty of witnesses."

"I'm sure your little Gryffindor friends will be happy to lie for you."

"Severus, please," Dumbledore said. "Harry, did Professor Snape actually ask you to consume a potion or any other substance?"

"Not in those exact words, but he was talking about it through the whole class."

"You see?" Snape demanded. "I merely ask him to come to the front of the class, and he accuses me of trying to poison him! I want him suspended!"

"I want Snape fired!" Sirius shouted back. "And arrested for attempted murder!"

"You're the last person to be throwing around accusations like that," Snape shot back, then turned to Harry. "Pettigrew wasn't the first person he tried to murder on school grounds. You might want to ask him about it. The werewolf was involved that time too."

Harry said, "I already know about the night you went looking for trouble, and almost found it with Remus. I also know my dad saved your life. Is that another one of the old grudges you've decided to take out on me?"

Snape turned to Dumbledore. "You see how he twists everything around?"

Sirius said, "Sounds like a fair question to me."

Snape and Sirius took a step towards each other, wand hands twitching.

"Gentlemen!" Dumbledore said, raising his voice for the first time.

Sirius and Snape stopped and fell silent, but continued to glare at each other.

"Harry," Dumbledore said, lowering his voice. "Did you accuse Professor Snape of trying to kill you?"

"No, sir. He asked what reason I had to distrust him. I answered by reminding him the Dark wizard he served killed my parents and tried to kill me."

Snape sneered. "Seeking attention and sympathy, like always."

Harry expected Sirius to explode, but his godfather ignored Snape entirely and addressed Dumbledore. "I will be filing complaints with both the Hogwarts Board of Governors and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Sirius said evenly. "Harry shouldn't have to tolerate mockery of his parents' sacrifice, let alone credible death threats from a supposedly-reformed Death Eater."

Dumbledore said, "That's rather extreme. I thought I addressed your concerns about Professor Snape's unfortunate past when you first brought them to me."

"That was before Snape tried to poison Harry."

"Ridiculous!" Snape protested.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Sirius, such inflammatory statements are not helpful."

"Neither is Snape's presence at Hogwarts. Even if you insist he isn't a danger to Harry's life, he is quite plainly compromising his education."

Dumbledore turned to Harry. "Harry, I wish you had come to me directly with your concerns, rather than engaging in a confrontation in the middle of class."

"In that case, sir, now that we're here, can you explain why a Death Eater is teaching at Hogwarts?"

"You see how little respect he has?" Snape complained.

Dumbledore said, "I assure you that Professor Snape is no Death Eater. He has my complete confidence."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"I'm afraid that is a private matter."

Harry waited to see if the headmaster would say more. When he did not, Harry said, "I see. No disrespect, sir, but I don't think having this conversation earlier would have done much to reassure me."

"A point from Gryffindor for your cheek," Snape said.

"That will not be necessary," Dumbledore said. "Harry, I realize I am asking you to take a great deal on faith. But let us stay focused on the present matter. Before you arrived, Professor Snape explained that he was using a hypothetical scenario to impress upon the class the grave importance of brewing antidotes with care. He had no intention of carrying through with it."

Sirius snorted, but Dumbledore ignored him and continued to address Harry. "Isn't that explanation more plausible than a Hogwarts teacher trying to harm you in front of an entire class of your fellow students? Please try to consider the matter objectively."

"I don't see what being a Hogwarts teacher has to do with it. Quirrell tried to kill me. Lockhart tried to wipe my memory, and Ron's, and leave Ginny to die. Snape's explanation is possible. But it's also possible he would have gone through with it and then tried to claim the whole thing was a horrible accident. It wouldn't be so different from other things that have happened to me at this school."

Snape started to object, but fell into a seething silence at a raised hand from Dumbledore.

Harry went on, "I know he tried to stop Quirrell from cursing my broom, but I also know which side of the war he was on, and I know he's hated me since the first time I walked into his class. I don't know what to think about his true intentions. I do know it's hard to focus on learning Potions while dealing with all that, like Sirius said."

"There you have it," Snape said. "He admits to having nothing but vague feelings to justify both his slander against me, and his appalling performance in my class. Perhaps he'll feel better and do better after having a good cry."

Harry looked at Snape. "Your whole personality is based on hurt feelings from way back when you were a student. Seems like you're the one who needs to have a good cry and get over himself."

Snape stared at Harry for a moment before turning back to Dumbledore to launch into further complaints, but Sirius spoke first. "I've been in contact with Horace Slughorn. He might be persuaded to return to teaching, should an opening become available."

"And when did this conversation take place?" Snape demanded. "I doubt you've had time since this afternoon's class. You've been looking to undermine me all along, just hoping for a convenient pretext."

Sirius continued to address Dumbledore. "Today wasn't the first incident. Snape has shown ongoing hostility towards Harry for the entire time he's been here. This latest attack is an alarming escalation, but not an unforeseeable one."

Dumbledore sighed. "Harry, I speak from bitter experience when I tell you that in the folly of youth, it's all too easy to allow oneself to be led astray by a poor choice in friends. Whatever grave errors of judgment Professor Snape made in the past, I assure you he came to understand the terrible consequences, and has done what he could to make amends. He turned away from Voldemort and the Death Eaters a long time ago."

Sirius asked, "Then this is a personal vendetta, rather than a matter of ideology?"

"Whatever disagreements they've had, Professor Snape is no threat to Harry, or any other student. And I am not inclined to dismiss a valued member of my staff over a conflict I am confident the two of them can resolve."

Sirius scowled, while Snape looked triumphant. "I will see you in detention, Potter."

Dumbledore said, "No. There will be no reprisals over this, Severus."

"You're going to let the brat get away with slandering me in my own class? Typical. Gryffindors can get away with anything at this school." He shot a look at Sirius. "Even attempted murder."

"In fact, Sirius received punishment at the time for his poor judgment, even if you felt it wasn't harsh enough. As for today's events, you asked Harry to give his opinion of your attitude towards him. He answered with the truth as he saw it. Given the contentious history between you, I don't know what good you expected to come of your question."

"I expect him to answer respectfully no matter what I ask him. Not twist things around!"

"Severus, enough," Dumbledore said firmly. "I want both of you to take this as an opportunity to make a fresh start. You will treat Harry like any other student, and not as though he were his father from the days of your schoolyard rivalry. Perhaps when speaking to him, it would help if you were to take note of the fact that he has his mother's eyes."

Snape drew in a sharp breath, stared at Dumbledore for a long moment, then whirled and stormed out of the office.

"I'm still filing complaints," Sirius called after him. "Watch yourself!"

Dumbledore told him, "Doing so is of course your right, but the Board of Governors does not have the power to dismiss teachers. Their only recourse would be to replace me with someone more compliant. I hope we can agree that removing me from Hogwarts would be most unfortunate, if your sole concern here is Harry's safety."

"Of course it is."

"You are not also perhaps holding on to old grudges?"

"I admit I despise Snape. But I'm right about him not belonging in a classroom, least of all with Harry."

"Sirius, please. I'm hoping Harry can learn from this that it's never too late to set aside old errors and conflicts and begin anew. It would help if you demonstrated that in your own interactions with Professor Snape."

Sirius shook his head. "Snape is never going to treat Harry fairly."

Dumbledore turned to Harry. "I hope you and Professor Snape can work this out yourselves, but if you feel the need for a third party to mediate, please come to me or Professor McGonagall, rather than engaging in conflict in the classroom."

Harry said, "I'm afraid Sirius is right, sir. Snape is never going to stop engaging in conflict with me."

"I will speak to him further, but removing him is not an option, and I must ask you to trust me to have good reasons for my decision. Can you trust me in this, Harry?"

"I'll try, sir."

Dumbledore smiled. "You have my gratitude."

"It's a lot to ask," said Sirius. "Snape is the adult. It shouldn't be up to Harry to try to keep things civil."

"A great deal has been asked of Harry which is not fair to him," Dumbledore agreed. "For what little comfort it may bring you, Harry, I do hope you know how proud I am of you."

"Thank you, sir. It means a lot, actually. It just doesn't fix anything."

"I know. It is less than you deserve, but all I can offer for now."

Seeing the futility of trying to convince Dumbledore to reconsider, Sirius asked if he could walk Harry back to his common room. Dumbledore readily agreed, and wished them both a pleasant evening.

As they walked along the corridor, Sirius said, "I'm sorry I couldn't fix this, but I always want you to tell me when you have a problem, and I'll always try."

"I know. It makes a big difference to have someone there who's on my side. I mean, I know Dumbledore's not on Snape's side against me, but it's like he's just above it all. Even when McGonagall is there, she tries to be fair, but there's a limit to how far she'll go in disagreeing with the headmaster."

"You'll find that's a pretty good description of how most people see Dumbledore. And not without some basis. He usually has good reasons for whatever he does. Or at least good intentions, even when he makes mistakes. That doesn't make it any easier to swallow when he refuses to explain those reasons."

"Yeah. No offense, but I was actually impressed by how well you kept it together."

Sirius gave a rueful chuckle. "You can say it. I can be a bit of a hothead, but I'm trying to do better. Talking to Remus has helped me see a different perspective on what I need to do to actually look out for what's best for you. Like filing complaints, rather than throwing curses."

"Are you really going to file complaints against Snape?"

"Yes. We need to establish a written record, in case he pulls something else. Let me know right away if he does. I'm not going to press to have him removed though, at least for now. I don't think Dumbledore was bluffing about being willing to fight to keep him. Getting rid of Snape at the cost of getting Dumbledore thrown out along with him wouldn't be close to worth it."

"Yeah, I get that. By the way, what was that at the end about my mother's eyes?"

"Lily and Snape were friends before starting school, but that fell apart when he turned bad. Or turned worse, I should say, since he was a creep the first time we met him. Maybe Dumbledore was hoping that even for a guy like Snape, his one childhood friend who was a decent person might still mean something to him." His eyes went distant. "The friends you make when you're young… Well, you know. You've been lucky there."

"Yeah, I know."

"How's everything else going? Any nightmares?"

"None since the last one I told you about. I would have said."

"Good. How are your lessons with Mad-Eye?"

"The stuff I'm learning about Defense is brilliant, but he's… I don't know. Fine, I guess."

"Come on. Out with it."

"He's vague about certain things. About his past."

"I'm not surprised. With the amount of Dark magic he's seen, I imagine there's plenty he'd rather forget, and figures you never need to hear about in the first place."

"Not stuff like that. He told us he knew my parents, and Ginny's uncles, but he won't go into details. Hermione said he was the same way talking to Neville about his parents. It seems suspicious."

"I can explain that. It's because of how he knew those people. Don't spread this around, but we had a secret group during the war, dedicated to fighting Voldemort. Moody and the people you mentioned were members."

"Why haven't you told me all this before now?"

"What do you mean? You knew your parents and Remus and I fought in the war. I haven't told you details for the same reason as Moody, I expect. I saw things back then I wish I didn't have in my head now–memories the Dementors were happy to leave me with, that I'm never going to share with you."

"That sucks, and I'm sorry about that, but I meant about this secret group."

"The Order of the Phoenix. The group was secret for a reason, and not just because of who we were fighting. Being on the right side doesn't mean being Ministry-approved. Governments get nervous about any kind of organized fighting group in their country that's not under their control."

"Even with Dumbledore leading it?"

"In some ways, especially with Dumbledore leading it, given how powerful he is, and how popular he is. Don't make the mistake of assuming anyone who's against the Death Eaters is necessarily your friend. That goes double when it comes to the Ministry."

"I guess I can see that, but Moody retired from the Ministry, and I assume this group broke up at the end of the war. What's he got to worry about now?"

"He's still got his Auror pension to consider. Aside from all that, he's always been secretive to the point of paranoia. His usual answer to a question is demanding why you want to know."

Harry snorted. "Yeah, I've heard that more than once."

They were approaching the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, so Harry said, "Maybe it's better if you don't let the painting see you. She might get spooked after your encounter last year, and who knows how long I'd have to wait for her to come back and let me in."

"Yeah, I suppose I wasn't at my most charming on my last visit, so I'll say goodbye here. I can't think of anything else to tell you anyway. Moony and I haven't made any progress figuring out what's going on with Crouch. But you know I'm always just a mirror away if there's anything you need."

"I know."

"Use it anytime. I'll always show up to fight for you, even if I don't always win."

Harry nodded and looked down, not wanting Sirius to see how much a statement like that could still get to him.

Sirius gave him a brief hug, then said good night and walked away, so as not to embarrass him further.

Harry took a moment to collect himself, then climbed the last flight of stairs to the common room entrance, gave the password, and entered.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were sitting where they could watch the entrance. They looked over when he came in, and he went to join them.

Ginny took in his expression, and slid over to curl up against him when he sat down. He wrapped an arm around her, took a deep breath, and gave them a quick summary of the meeting.

His friends were a sympathetic audience, but none of them had any ideas on how to fix the situation.

In the silence that followed, Hermione began to fidget. When Harry gave her a questioning look, she said, "It doesn't seem like there's anything more to say on that, and I've been dying to hear the big secret about your wand."

He looked around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear. "The day I got it from Ollivander's shop, he told me he made one other wand with a tail feather from the same phoenix. The other wand went to Riddle."

"You never told us this!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Shhh! I don't want people to know. It would end up like that Heir of Slytherin nonsense all over again."

"This could be important, but it's so hard to research wands. The library has so little, considering how fundamental they are to the use of magic. Oh, I wish I could have talked to Mr Ollivander while he was here."

"You can use Hedwig to send him a letter, if you really think it's important," Harry offered.

"Good idea. Thank you, I will."

"I still think it's nothing though. At least I hope so."

Ginny said, "The coincidence might be important, without it meaning there's anything wrong with you or your wand. My wand and Riddle's are both made of yew, but I never let it bother me."

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked.

"The diary told me. Trying to bond or something. I don't know if it means anything, but I choose to believe that if it does, I get a say in deciding what. The same goes for you and your wand, Harry."

Harry said, "That sound like good advice, thanks. But can we talk about something else now?"

"Alright," Hermione said. "How's your Occlumency practice going?"

Harry grimaced. "I haven't had a scar dream in weeks."

"Less than two weeks, actually."

Ron said, "Would you give it a rest? Hasn't he been interrogated by enough people today?"

Hermione huffed and stood up. "If no one is interested in anything I have to say, I'll just go write that letter to Mr Ollivander."

Harry said, "I didn't mean you have to send a letter tonight. Hedwig is probably out hunting now anyway."

Ginny added, "And you don't have to leave to write it. Stay and hang out with us."

Hermione shook her head. "I need to focus on what I most want to ask, so I don't take up too much of his time. Good night, everyone."

As Hermione walked stiffly away, Ginny told her brother, "You didn't have to chase her off."

Harry said, "You know she means well."

"Yeah, I know," Ron admitted. "She just doesn't know when to quit, and you're never willing to tell her bluntly enough to get through to her. The minute you get back from dealing with Snape, she has to start in with wand cores and scar dreams. Sometimes it's nice to relax a little between battles against the forces of evil."

"I do like the sound of that."

"Chess?" offered Ron, gesturing to the board that was still sitting out from an earlier game.

"Sure," agreed Harry, and Ron started setting up the pieces.

Harry leaned his head against Ginny's, and told her, "You're going to have to move so I can reach the board, you know."

She made a sound of displeasure in response.

"You know," remarked Ron, "Hogwarts does give us pillows. I'm sure you have some up in your room. You don't have to always use Harry for that."

Ginny glared at him. "You did not just try to send me to my room."

"Sounds like someone's cranky. Must be bedtime."

"Prat."

"Princess."

"Thank you. About time you noticed."

Ron scoffed, but didn't reply.

She told him, "Make sure you sort things out with Hermione before the weekend. I'm not spending our extra two days listening to you snap at each other."

"That was nothing. It'll blow over."

"Or you could do the mature thing, and talk to her."

"Suppose so." He finished setting up the chess board. "You can play white, Harry. Go ahead."